"Know that there was once a Darth Traya. And that she cast aside that role, was exiled, and found a new purpose. But there must always be a Darth Traya, one that holds the knowledge of betrayal. Who has been betrayed in their heart, and will betray in turn"
―Darth Traya (Kreia)

Sith Gothic 2 – The Dark Lords

Part 2

I paced before the console, waiting for T3 to contact me. I badly desired a distraction from my thoughts right now, but the galaxy wasn't providing one. Which was good in some ways as I did have a lot to think about.

Things were muddled, I was trying to remember exactly how the Exile had gotten out of all this, but it was been so long ago since I'd played KOTOR 2, and while the memories were starting to return they would only be of limited help. Real life wasn't a video game, unexpected thing could happen.

Plus I didn't fully understand what was going on. I couldn't be sure that following the game was the right thing to do, and that lack of understanding annoyed me. I should be in control of the situation, but for some reason I wasn't operating at one hundred percent, it wasn't the drugs I'd be dosed with, it had to have something to do with my greatly weakened connection to the Force.

I didn't understand how that had happened. I wasn't a wound in the Force, and my physically injuries couldn't be the cause. Perhaps Keria had formed a Force Bond with me and was leeching my strength, or maybe she blocking me to see how I did without access to the galaxy wide energy field.

Atton had other things on his mind, judging by the look on his face.

"So, uh, how long have you been a Jedi? Must be tough, you know… no family, no friends" he was saying.

I was in no mood for meaningless small talk, and I also didn't understand why he thought I was light sider, not that I cared. I too much on my mind as it was.

"Don't call me a Jedi" I told him.

Atton raised his hands defensively.

"Hey, I wasn't trying to…"

A beep from the console cut him off, and l checked the display.

"Hey, what do you know-that little cargo cylinder came through" Rand said.

Something was wrong.

"It looks like it. But it's strange he didn't contact us on the comm" I commented.

Wasn't the droid suppose to be disabled, or something like that.

"If he got the turbolifts working, then we should have a clear run to the hangar," said Atton.

That would be nice, but life was rarely that simple.

"The turbolifts are locked down manually," I replied "I had him open an emergency hatch".

I was also ready on the move.

"Wait, wait!" called out Atton. "Don't tell me you're taking that hatch down into the mining tunnels?"

He shook his head.

"That explosion I heard came from below. There's probably nothing down there except superheated rock and collapsed blast tunnels. You'd be an idiot to go down there" he warned me.

True, but I had no other plan. I had to go with what I remembered from the game.

"Maybe, but it's the only way out" I replied.

Atton crossed his arms.

"You're either really brave or really crazy, or both" he remarked.

He then let his arms fall to his sides.

"All right. I'll try to monitor things from up here" Rand was now saying "Be careful, the only thing moving down there is likely to be mining droids".

Well those I could handle.

"Your concern is noted," I said as made to move again.

I didn't get very far.

"Wait," called out again Atton.

He opened a compartment next to one of the displays and took out a com-link.

"I'll keep the comm open. I may be able to guide you through the tunnels from up here". he told me as he passed me the device "Don't know if the signal will be clear if you get too deep, though".

Unlike Kriea he couldn't talk directly into my head so I would make use of the device.

(Line Break)

As it turned out the emergency hatch was near the security office. Inside was the emergency turbolift. I took the elevator down to what seemed to be the top level of the actual mine.

"Can you read me?" a voice wondered.

Atton's voice was somewhat distorted.

"Barely," I answered. "There's a lot of static".

Hopefully we wouldn't lose contact as I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing down here. Which made it seem silly to have come here, but I needed to do something.

"There's a lot of interference down there," Atton said, "probably caused by that explosion. Still, it looks like there's a route down to the Peragus fuel depot, if the passages haven't collapsed. That explosion knocked out most of the sensors".

There was a pause before he spoke further

"There should be an emergency crate in the next room" Rand informed me "And watch yourself down there, I'm picking up a lot of droid broadcasts in that area, but I can't pin them down".

Droids didn't worry me, well not the mining ones.

"I'll be careful, then," I replied "If you detect anything, call me".

"Will do," said Atton, "and be careful down there."

Slowly I moved ahead. As promised there was a plasteel cylinder up against the wall in the hallway ahead. I lifted the lid to find several smaller containers. The first held a safety harness with more pockets and pouches for equipment.

"Find the emergency supplies?" Atton asked.

Before I replied I took set of miners' coveralls and a pair of work boots

"Yes" I said "And it looks like there's some clothes in here".

I couldn't be sure, but it sounded as if Rand was chuckling.

"Good to hear it. No sense in you running around half-naked" he commented.

I kept digging in the supply cylinder.

"There's some gear in here, too: a harness, some kind of goggles, and a shield" I informed Rand.

All looked useful.

"Get that safety harness on," Atton advised "It has a transponder which should shut down any sonic mines near you. The survey gear is designed to help you see down there. It'll amplify ambient light and highlight powered equipment, like terminals or mines. The droids can see much better than you can in low light, so those should even the odds some. The mining energy shield will temporarily protect you against heat, if there's gas venting down there you'll need it".

Rand knew a lot about mining operations for some reason.

"Understood," I replied. "Anything else?".

There had been too much good news, something bad had to be happening.

"Uh, just one more thing," said Atton. "I've narrowed down some of the ID signals, and if the numbers are right, you're sharing those tunnels with a battalion of mining droids"

While the mining droids were terrible in combat, even a weak foe could overwhelm an enemy with sheer numbers.

"Okay" I said to Rand "I'm open to suggestions"

Shame I didn't have any grenades, or my lightsabre, I had no idea what happened to my weapons.

"There's got to be some kind of central controller down there" Rand was now saying "See if you can find a terminal by the main access shaft: that should let you control the droids, or at least shut them down".

Quickly I donned the harness and goggles, and then I got moving. The door at the end of the passage slid open to reveal the mining tunnel. Inside it was a mess: main power was out, and much of the emergency lighting had been damaged. I began walking down the uneven passage. It was uncomfortably warm; somewhere fuel was burning.

I was just rounding a corner when Atton spoke up again.

"Watch where you step" he warned "I'm picking up a lot of sonic mines down there. Don't run unless you have to, it makes them harder to spot. The harness should make them in-activate, but the heat might have damaged the electronics."

I walked slowly ahead, scanning the ground for charges. Then I saw a small disc shape in a pile of loose rock, with a small, blinking red light on top of it. There was no way around it, the tunnel was too narrow.

Knowing what to do I inched forward. The red light blinked green and I let out a sigh of relief when I realised that the harness was working. I retrieved the mine and deactivated it, after that I tucked it into a pouch on her belt and continued on down the tunnel.

The goggles helped me spot a second mine ahead. I was about to collect it when a mining droid stepped out from behind a corner. I took out the virbocutter tool and then noticed that the droid wasn't aiming for me. As I sprinted past the robot as it fired its lasers into the mine. The blast brought the ceiling down on the droid, blocking my way back.

I knew that mere mining droids shouldn't be smart enough to lay a trap like this, which meant something smarter was controlling them, that HK droid no doubt. I also suspected the the HK droid was going to try to collect the bounty of Jedi by handing me over to the Exchange even though I was a Sith. I imagined that the droid like most others didn't see the Sith as anything other than Jedi who had gone dark, but that really wasn't the case.

Then I continued on. The tunnel opened to a small room, lit by glowing gas that was being held back by some sort of field. Another body lay in a nearby pool of light. The dead miner had stood and fought, and five droids had fallen before the rest killed him.

Carefully I retrieved the mining laser he'd been using as mine had run out of charge. They weren't powerful weapons, but it was better that only having a fancy cutting tool to defend myself with.

Next I peeked around another corner to find four droids waiting in another room. One was placing a mine. Also there was a small sensor ball floating around above them. Once I'd taken in the scene I took careful aim and fired, not at the droids but at the mine. The blast wrecked three droids and blew both arms off the fourth.

As I watch I saw the sensor ball swoop down and lift one of the broken arms with a tractor beam. It swung and reattached it to the droid with a small welding beam. The droid began shooting as the drone began to reattach the second laser.

I cursed and fired at the drone, but missed the tiny target, normally when in combat I let the Force flow through me, and it enhanced my fighting skills, but right now I couldn't do that so I was forced to take cover as the mining droid returned fire.

A moment later I swung out from behind the corner and blew a limb off the droid. The drone swooped down and began lifting the leg to repair it, and more importantly it stopped moving. This allowed me to shoot the ball out of the air, then finished off the mining droid. Once all that was done I moved past the wreckage.

"Hey, watch out!" Atton called out over the comm. "That explosion has super-heated the tunnels ahead; those hot gases'll cook the skin off your bones. Remember that you've got that mining energy shield. Switch it on-it should protect you against the heat if you move quickly enough".

I stepped up to the edge of the hot zone and then activated the armband. It came on with a hum and a red energy field wrapped itself around me. I wondered why I'd not seen like shields like these before, perhaps they were new. Energy shields weren't knew, but this model seemed different than what I'd seen before.

Next I ran into the steam. The shield unit began to whine as it absorbed the brutal heat that was all around me.

"You're getting close to something big," Atton informed me, once I had passed through the steam "I think it's the main ventilation shaft. The central droid controller should be somewhere nearby. Keep an eye out for it, and watch yourself, I'm picking up a lot of droids".

Once Rand was done talking I looked around. The room was the size of a hangar bay. The lights were still on here so I was able see a walkway that crossed the gap, and there was a computer terminal on a platform in the centre.

At least a dozen droids and several repair drones were here but they were trapped behind force fields. However should those fields come down when I was on the walkway I'd be exposed.

Soon I headed for the console and began working. I pulled up a map and found my exit. The lift to the fuel depot was down a corridor in one corner of the room. The containment fields were blocking the route, but shutting them down would release the droids.

Thinking fast I checked the droid control system. The droids were programmed to 'mine' any organics in the facility. I wasn't great with computers, but it wasn't hard to remove that order and put them back to work, doing whatever it was they normally did.

However when I lowered the force fields the droids immediately attacked. I was forced to hunker down behind the console and return fire. I kept shooting, taking out several droids and drones. The droids cleverly, too cleverly for mere robots, laid sonic mines at either end of the walkway. Lucky for me I was able to shot the mines, taking out two droids who'd been placing them, mining lasers didn't have much power in them but they were highly accurate.

Despite my shooting success more droids were incoming, and I found myself surrounded. For a moment I actually feared for my life and I used that fear to channel the dark side, it was pitiful compared to what I was used to, but it was enough to let me put on a burst of speed as I headed for the exit. Something exploded, I rolled, then got up running and headed right for the turbolift.

"Hey, I'm picking up some strange readings." Atton told me over the comm "What are you doing down there?"

I wasn't actually sure. I'd just been trying to get out of this hell-hole.

"The containment fields in the mining tunnels are shutting down," said Atton worriedly. "You need to get out of there before they vent fuel to the surface of the asteroid through the tunnels!"

I swore for the third time today.

"How much time do I have?" I wished to know.

Thankfully I wasn't far from the turbolift.

"I might be able to keep it contained until you get the turbolift, but not much longer," Atton answered. "You're almost to the lift, move fast and you'll make it"

Move fast was what I did.

(Line Break)

I found nothing of interest in whatever part of the mining colony I was current in until I saw a red-haired man lay dead on the floor, and more familiar sight. The droid looked just like HK-47, but it was not that droid, my robot assassin had been on the Ebon Hawk, no doubt it had been badly damaged otherwise it would have made an effort to recover me by now.

"Greeting: It is a pleasure to see you alive, Master, providing my receptors are not off-focus. How may I be of assistance?" it said.

Well it could shoot itself in the head, that would be helpful.

"I'm not your master" I told the droid.

At this point I decided to ask some questions, I was still unclear on matters, and while the droid would lie about certain things it might be truthful when on other subjects.

"With the unexpected termination of my previous Master, you are the only organic which I may now serve."

By 'unexpected termination' I'm sure it meant 'horrible murder'.

"Who was your previous Master?" I asked.

"Answer: the captain of the Harbinger, Master," said the droid. "I was in transit to Telos to facilitate communications and terminate hostilities. However, we did not arrive at our intended destination".

We? When I had been on board the Harbinger. Had my ship been tractored on board after being attacked? If so how had I gotten back on board the Ebon Hawk? This was all so confusing.

"All right, so what happened once I got here?" I asked next.

If I remembered right this droid was the key to getting into the dormitory which I needed to access for some sort of code.

"Answer: the miners debated what to do with you as you lay unconscious in the medical bay," said the droid. "One group seemed intent on selling you as property. The other group opposed this".

Which meant Meetra must have already been dead when we arrived since they hadn't considered selling her, but what had she been doing on Harbinger? Had I sought her out?

Also I had to wonder why the miners had thought I was a Jedi, I didn't dress like one. Perhaps this HK droid had lied to the miners as part of its plans.

"Then what happened?" I wondered.

"Recitation: Three standard hours after the division between the miners became apparent, accidents began to occur throughout the facility. A result of improper maintenance, I believe. The mining droid behaviour cores began to suffer from binary decay… crude models are prone to such failures, resulting in murderous rampages. At about the same time, several explosions occurred in gas pockets down in the mines. The miners sought shelter in the dormitory section, a fatal mistake".

This all seemed familiar. Old memories stirred inside my mind.

"Why was that a mistake?" I asked.

Well I knew why I just wanted to keep the machine talking.

"Explanation: The blast damaged sections of the facility's ventilation system, causing a slow, lethal buildup of toxic fumes in the dormitory level" the droid said.

I needed to get in there, to see if there was any way to end the lock down. The problem was that the lift connecting the dormitory to the administration level was locked down from the dormitory end.

"Is there any way to reach them?" was my next question.

The droid soon told me.

"Theory: You could walk across the surface of the asteroid to the dormitory airlock," the droid said slowly, "but such a route would be extremely hazardous, and I do not wish to see you damaged".

Neither would I.

"Statement: Master, I cannot devise a way to enter the dormitory," replied the HK. "The console governing the droid maintenance area, and the airlock, is protected by a voice-lock protocol"

The droid pointed to the dead man.

"Musing: In the last days of his life, the maintenance officer was quite careful about voice protocols. Conjecture: I suspect that once he realised that something was wrong in the facility, he voice-locked the droid bay functions. The console code is 'Maintenance control: voice print ID: R1-B5,' but unless the maintenance officer speaks the code, it is useless" HK informed.

For the forth time today I swore

"All right, wait here" I instructed the robot.

Now I needed to find that voice recorder thingy. Sadly that would be the easy part.

(Line Break)

A metal walkway led from the airlock across the face of the asteroid, and a z shaped ramp led up to the administration level; the walkway even crossed in front of the control room observation window and then another ramp led back down to the dormitory airlock, if I remembered correctly.

From the outside I could see the jumble of pipework and wires that ran across the asteroid surface next to the walkway. I also spotted the station docking arm that jutted out into the blackness of space.

In the distance asteroids of different shapes and sizes tumbled about in the nothingness that was space, but I ignored those and focused on where my feet were going. I didn't like being in the airless void, it was impossible to forget that all that stood between myself and horrible death was the suit I wore. One rip and I was done for.

My feet clanked down with each step as the magnetic boots worked to keep me on the walkway. As I began the climb up the ramp, there was a flash of light and a jet of flame burst out of a large pipe. Thankfully I avoided being scorched, by timing how long it was between bursts of flame, and then moving past the pipe during the gap.

"It's about time," said Atton brusquely over the comm "I lost your signal after you left the mining tunnels. Now you're coming in clear".

He paused a moment.

"Except I'm picking you up on the exterior of the facility" he then added "on the asteroid's surface. That can't be right".

Normally he'd be right,

"I'm right outside the observation window" I told him.

While it was silly I couldn't help waving as Atton looked up from the console.

"What are you doing out there?" Rand wished to know.

A good question.

"I need to reach the dormitory section," I answered, "and this is the only way to get there".

Well the only way I knew about.

"You're crazy," Atton said "You need to get out of there, quick".

Indeed I could be crazy, it would explain a lot about my recent actions and how my life was going.

"What little is left of the facility's venting systems have gone active" he informed me "most likely from the explosions in the mining tunnels. They're venting Peragus fuel deposits into space through the exterior vents-right in your path!"

So that's what that flame jet was.

"Can't you shut them down?" I wondered.

No doubt it wouldn't be that simple

"I can't," Atton told me "I'm locked out of the main systems here. I can monitor the situation, but I can't shut it down".

Atton frowned and typed a command into the terminal.

"The vents look like they've been purposely rerouted to vent the gases to the exterior, and only in the last few minutes. It's almost as if…"

He trailed off as the console started beeping.

"Oh, what now?" he wondered "I don't believe this-there's a ship coming in, sending a docking code."

Atton shook his head.

"I have a bad feeling about this" he said.

It first became visible as a moving point of light. Over time the dot grew into the familiar shape of a Hammerhead-class cruiser with Republic markings. I watched as the ship banked slightly to avoid an asteroid. It passed by the catwalk no more than fifty meters away. Soon the ship came to a stop and moved in on thrusters, docking to the station's arm. Aft, its fuel pipe extended and hooked in to the station's refuelling port.

"Looks like we've got company" I said.

The Sith had come.